


Call

by Kneekeyta



Category: My Mad Fat Diary
Genre: F/M, Mentions of verbal abuse, Smut, a lot of fluff, mentions of self harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 17:04:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10540782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kneekeyta/pseuds/Kneekeyta
Summary: Rae accidentally dials the wrong number.





	

It was unusually crisp for a summer night, it was mid-June and she found herself with a scarf bundled around her neck, her leather jacket barely keeping the cold out. It was also going on 2 a.m. so that possibly could reason to explain the extra crispness in the air.  
It had been a long tedious evening serving the same boisterous twenty something crowd, she loved her job, don’t get her wrong, she met lots of interesting people, and made friends with the regulars.  
But she was feeling a summer cold might be coming on and the last thing she needed was to deal with the unsavory portion of the crowd, the ones who tried to grope her and ask if she was up for a good time as she served their drinks, only to be cursed at when denying their advances.  
As she walked her head felt fuzzy and wished her feet could carry her faster the few blocks she had left until she was home. She turned a corner and saw a group of men up ahead, it seems they may have had one too many, their over jovial voices being a dead giveaway, she knew it would be better not attract attention to herself in situations such as this, so she smoothly crossed the street and kept a firm pace.  
However, it wasn’t too long until she heard the cat calls and drunken ramblings behind her, she sped up her pace as much as her body would allow, when she didn’t acknowledge any of the heckling she heard the rumbling of footsteps grow closer.  
Her mind began to race and her heart pounding not sure which way to go, there was nothing open around her, no one else to be seen or heard, the calls were growing louder so unsure of what would happen she ducked into a phone box.  
She immediately slammed the door shut and flipped the little lock, she turned holding her back against it and was jolted forward when a loud bang came crashing down on the glass behind her. She scrunched her eyes and counted to ten as names were called and laughing erupted.  
After a moment of silence she opened her eyes and then suddenly a man appeared to the side, he knocked on the window playfully willing her to come out, she scrunched her eyes shut again only for loud banging to erupt throughout all sides of the booth causing her eyes to jolt open, tears springing to them unsure of what to she should do as the dim light above flickered with each bang.  
She saw the phone and wondered if she should call the police, but figured the men would be long gone before the police even arrived, she instead opted to call her best mate.  
She reached in her pocket and pulled out a few coins, she picked up the receiver with a shaky hand, another loud bang erupted and she dropped one of the coins, she inserted the ones she had and dialed as best she could as the banging grew louder.  
As the phone connected she held the receiver close to her ear hoping to drown out the sounds coming from outside the booth.  
“H-hello…” A groggy voice answered.  
It was a male voice it must be Chloe’s boyfriend.  
“ D-D-Dylan its..R-Rae..”  
Another loud bang and she nearly dropped the receiver.   
“Can y-you and Choe..please c-come get me..”  
“What?” he asked.  
She took a deep breath knowing that she had to get out what was happening and where she was before time ran out.  
“Please Dylan…I was l-leaving work and these guys started to f-follow me..I’m t-trapped in a phone booth they’re all around can you and Chlo please come.”  
“Where are you?”  
“Phone box right outside of Rita’s Café on the highstreet…p-plea—-“  
The line had went dead and she dropped the receiver and slid down the backside of the booth cradling her head in her hands. She could hear the strewn of profanities being shouted at her as the tears flowed. She took deep breaths and counted to ten, this had been the first time in years that she was terrorized in such a way, she had come a long way with her past but being rushed in the middle of the night with nowhere to go caused her ignite with panic.  
When she regained control of her breathing and her shaking subsided she slowly lifted her head to find there was no one around. She sat contemplating whether or not to stand but that was soon cut short when a man appeared in front of her knocking lightly on the glass.  
She recoiled into herself pushing into the back of the booth even though she was flush against it, she began holding her arms around her waist her knees bending further into her, fresh tears ready to spill.  
“Hey..hey..you’re okay..I’m not gonna hurt ya.” He smiled softly, he squatted down so he was eye level looking at her through the glass.  
“My name is Finn…you’re Rae right?” he asked his soft smile still present.  
She furrowed her eyebrows and scrunched up her face wondering how he could possibly know her name, she had never seen him before in her life.  
“You called me..by accident I’m presuming..you kept calling me Dylan..said you needed help..some guys were giving you trouble?”  
She nodded unwinding herself letting her body relax.  
“I heard the shouting even on my end and even though I don’t know ya..ya sounded like you were in trouble..and well..I couldn’t chance that you wouldn’t get ahold of ya mate..so here I am.”  
“Are you okay?” He asked.  
She nodded and wiped the stray tears that fell.  
“They didn’t hurt you in anyway…do you need the police or hospital?”  
She shook her head.  
His smile grew warmer. “Alright then..you wanna maybe come out of there and we can call your mates or I can walk you home or get you a taxi?”  
She thought for a moment then nodded her head but found she was still rooted to the spot.  
“Anytime you’re ready, no need to rush.” he smiled then stood turning his back to her.  
It would seem this is what she needed to be able to stand, she felt less vulnerable with him turned away from her, he had already heard and seen so much from her tonight in such a small amount of time she couldn’t bear to let this complete stranger witness her trying to pull herself together as well.  
She stood easily enough and hung the receiver back on the hook, she wiped away the last bit of dampness on her cheeks and quickly wiped her nose with the bit of flannel peeking out from under her leather jacket. She took a deep breath unlatched the lock and opened the door a sudden chill engulfing her.  
He turned around as soon as she stepped out of the booth.  
“Alright?”  
She nodded, “T-thanks..thanks for coming.”  
“Anyone would have done the same thing y’know.”  
“No they wouldn’t.” she spoke softly.  
He smiled tightly at her rocking on his feet.  
“So..erm..Rae..do you want to call someone, Dylan perhaps or the other person you mentioned Cory?”  
“Chloe..” she said correcting him and found herself releasing a small chuckle.  
“Right..er.. Chloe you wanna call them?”  
“Uhh…No..I’m just a 10 minute walk from home no use to bother them.”  
“Right..well, let’s get you home.” He smiled at her.  
“Which way?” he asked looking right then left.  
She was going to protest saying that he had done so much to help her already that she didn’t want to be a burden on him by having him walk her home, but she was still feeling a bit unnerved and something told her that even if she did try to protest he would insist upon walking her home.  
“Er..left.” she said turning her body slightly.  
“After you..” he said.  
They shared a small smile before she turned, he immediately assumed the positon next to her walking in stride.  
As they walked she kept her head down letting her feet guide her home, she couldn’t wait to crawl into bed and forget about the events of the night, only wanting to look forward to her weekend off and the bliss of doing nothing other than rummaging her favorite record shop and possibly checking out the new one that opened in the next town.  
“You wanna talk about what happened?”  
She looked up and to her left at Finn. “Huh..oh..um..” she hesitated then looked away.  
“J-just I heard it’s good to talk about things..don’t keep it bottled y’know..o-only if you want of course.”  
“Umm..it was just a bunch of drunk tossers really…I had tried to avoid them by crossing the street but they still..”  
“Acted like tossers.” He menaced shaking his head.  
“Basically yeah..”  
“Think I’d be used to it..” she mumbled to herself.  
“You what?” he asked.  
She looked over to see him no longer walking with her, she stopped and turned seeing him a few paces behind her.  
“What?” she asked unsure of why he stopped.  
“People hassle you like that a lot?”  
She shrugged. “Well, I haven’t had it like this in a..long time..but I mean I’m a barmaid down at Venue Three and so I’ve had my fair share of profanities slung at me for various reasons.”  
Finn shook his head muttering and kicking invisible rocks.  
She wasn’t sure what was happening, surely he knew this sort of thing happened.  
“What?” she finally asked.  
“Its..just some people..guys are real fucking twats.”  
“Oh I know.”  
He looked up at her then took a few steps toward her. “It’s freezing out here.”  
“Yeah.” She said softly.  
They walked in silence back to her building and when she thought this is where they would part he insisted he made sure she got to her flat okay so he walked her up the two flight of stairs.  
As she put the key in the lock she turned to him.  
“Thank you again..for saving me.” She smiled softly.  
“Anytime.” He softly replied.  
“You alright now..I mean not shaken or anything?”  
She smiled, “No, I’m better.”  
“Good.” He nodded curtly.  
“I guess..I better..” he said throwing his thumb over his shoulder.  
“Right..yeah..” She said then turned unlocking her door, she opened it a small ways.  
“Thanks..again.”  
“Of course..goodnight Rae..” He held out his hand to her.  
Placing her hand in his she spoke, “Night, Finn.” then before she knew what she was doing she leaned in placing a soft kiss on his cheek.  
“Thanks..” she said as she pulled away, their hands not releasing.  
“You said that already.”  
“I..I..” She stuttered.  
He snorted a laugh, “Maybe, I’ll see ya around sometime.” With that he gave her hand a gentle squeeze and released it.  
He turned walking away, she stood there a moment before entering her flat wondering if she would ever see him around again.  
-  
After what happened the previous night she felt completely drained, and went straight to bed where sleep overcame her quickly. The following day she woke around 1 p.m. feeling a bit exhausted.  
She rolled over in bed and decided to try and not waste her days off, it was too late to go to her favorite record shop as it would be filled with too many college aged teens, she preferred to go first thing in the morning to browse in peace, plus she knew the owner Dave for a few years through her frequent visits and he would let her play whatever she wanted while in there.  
So she decided to save the music hunt for the next day and would finally use the little time she had to get her flat a bit more tidy.  
She got changed into some ragged old clothes and started first in the kitchen, she scrubbed every surface then she washed and dried all of the dishes, cups, pots and pans, she re-organized her cutlery drawer and the cupboard with her glasses and mugs.  
When she had finished her next task was the lounge, all though that really called for was a sweeping and tossing out of some week old newspapers and fluffing the cushions up a bit.  
As she was tossing out the news old papers her house phone rang.  
“Hello..”  
It was Chloe, she asked Rae if she wanted to go out to a club with herself and Dylan, Rae politely declined saying that this was the first weekend she’s had off in months and wanted to put it to good use but perhaps another time now that she had weekends free.  
When she hung up a loud rumbling came from her stomach causing her to realize she hadn’t eaten since dinner the previous night and it was already going on 4 o’clock.  
She finished tidying up the lounge then went into her kitchen and stood stopped for a moment looking at the clean surfaces she then turned back around heading to her phone and proceeded to order a pizza.  
As the pizza would take a good 30 minutes to arrive she decided to take a fast shower and change into something comfortable. When she was done she got dressed then picked up her scattered clothes putting them in their designated areas, folded, hung up, or tossed in the laundry bin. She then made her bed and just as she was done there was a knock at the door.  
She opened the door to find the pizza girl Cindy, she liked Cindy she’s been her delivery girl for nearly two years, she was American and said the most random shite sometimes which amused Rae, but more than that they shared similar tastes in music, which Rae loved. They had originally met at a record shop, Cindy was having it out with her then girlfriend when Cindy asked for Rae’s opinion on a record, siding with Cindy seemed to make it worse.  
“Hi, Rae…not working tonight?” She asked handing her the pizza.  
“No, first weekend off, hopefully one of many.” Rae said taking the pizza and handing her the money.  
“You deserve it you work too hard dealing with all those..tossers?” she said questioning herself as she always did when wondering if she used the right term.  
Rae chuckled, “Yeah..you got that one right.”  
“Oh..good, well I gotta go but maybe I’ll see you around the shop soon..I have to deliver a flight down now, watch out for the new one in 2A, he’s got a real case of the grab hands for an old geezer.” She said with a wince before walking off.  
Rae snorted a laugh as she shut her door, she set down the pizza on the table in front of her and went to get a beer from the fridge.  
She came back sitting on the sofa she cracked open her beer and took a drink before tucking into her pizza.  
-  
She woke to a bluescreen and looked at the digital clock it showed it was half past six in the morning. She got up leaving the contents of the night before to a better hour for pick up, she went to her room and fell into her bed to go back to sleep.  
A half hour or so of tossing and turning unable to find a comfortable position forced her to get out of bed. She decided to go to the next town over which for her was only a short walk as she lived on the edge of town. She got dressed and ready then picked up the pizza box and the two empty cans and tossed them in the bins as she left.  
It was a quiet walk, but still she kept her wits about her, even though it was daytime and nothing was likely to happen as it was just a bunch of drunk twats, she still felt uneasy.  
She made it easily enough to the street where the new record shop was located but decided to first duck into the café next door for some much needed tea and a quick bite to eat.  
She took her time in the café, looking at all the antique fixtures and trinkets, everything was mismatched and it was reminiscent of home for her. She ate her breakfast long before she ordered another cup of tea and decided it would be her last one.  
She finished and made her way next door to the record shop, she opened the door it chiming as she did, she walked in the smell of vinyl over taking her senses, for it being a new place the smell made it feel welcoming and warm, not stiff and new, smelling of fresh paint.   
As she walked further in a voice called from behind the counter, “Sorry we’re not quite open yet.”  
She stood stopped looking over at the person facing away from her, “Oh..right..sorry what time-“  
She was cut off when the person turned around. “Rae.”  
“Finn…”  
She was surprised to see him again let alone in a record shop of all places. If she was honest with herself she hadn’t given him much thought after the night he saved her because it would be pointless to think about someone you’re never going to see again, sure she would share the story of the kind stranger who helped her, but her mind would never wander past that.  
“Umm..sorry uh what time..I’ll just come back.” She said ready to turn.  
“No..no..you’re fine, you can stay.” He said taking a step forward.  
“Are you sure..I can..” she said pointing to the door.  
“Nah, I’m sure.” He said.  
“Okay..er..thanks.”  
He nodded.  
“So..” he cleared his throat.  
“H-how are you?” he asked.  
“Fine..good…I’m good you?”  
“I’m good.”  
“Good.”  
They stood staring at each other for a moment, she shifted and he cleared his throat.  
“So..Looking for anything in particular?”  
“No..not really.” She replied.  
“Right, well..I’ll just be here if you need me.” He smiled.  
“Okay…thanks.”  
She hesitated a moment and when he turned she made her way around the shop slowly taking everything in, after her initial run through of the shop she found herself reading the track list of a Happy Mondays album.  
“So..er you were off last night?”  
She looked up to see Finn standing next to her putting an album away, “Uh..yeah..it was my night off.” She said as she put the album back in its spot.  
“Wait..how did you know?” she asked turning to face him.  
He hadn’t met her gaze yet and he started to tug on his right ear. “My friend Archie..him and his boyfriend invited me out with them…and we ended up at Venue Three and I remember you said you worked there..but er..not last night.” He said then finally brought his gaze up to meet hers.  
“Oh..yeah, finally had a weekend off.”  
“Have you worked there long?”  
“Since it opened a few years back..its not my dream job or anything..but the pay is good and the tips are great..so I can’t complain.”  
“What’s your dream job then?”  
She sighed dreamily and looked off. “Always wanted to be on the radio..y’know, only play cool tunes, no crap fm.”  
“No crap fm..thats fucking brilliant.” He chuckled.  
“Yeah well, one can only take so much of the fucking Backstreet Boys..had to listen to the shite all throughout college.”  
“Ah..so you went to one of them colleges.”  
“Unfortunately.”  
“But..my trusty Walkman saved me…for the most part.”  
“Aye..bloody love makin’ a good mixtape.”  
“Same..” she smiled.  
Finn looked down at the album she had in her hand. “Like the Roses then?”  
Rae looked down at the album in her hand, she hadn’t realized that she was still rummaging as her and Finn were talking.  
“Oh yeah..love ‘em already have this one though.” She said and tucked it back away.  
Just then the bell on the door chimed, they both looked over, a tall guy with glasses walked in.  
“Hey Arch.” Finn called.  
“Hey.” He replied.  
“Long night.”  
“Feels like someone has taken a piss on my soul.”  
“Should have left early like I did.”  
“You only stayed long enough to have one drink and find out about that girl y–“  
“Arch…Arch..why don’t you go next door and get some tea, yeah.”  
Rae looked from Finn to Archie, Finns eyes were wide like he was sending a message to his friend.  
“It’s so far away.” He whined.  
“Arch..just go get some tea alright.”  
Rae watched Finn jut his jaw forward emphasizing his seriousness.  
“Oh..oh..right you’re the boss.” He said then turned walking out of the shop.  
Rae turned to face Finn to find him rubbing the back of his neck his face tinged pink.  
“So..” she started but Finn spoke over her.  
“Look I didn’t got to specifically to see you or nothin’ I was invited out and it just so happen to be the place you worked and I just wanted to see if you were okay after what happened.” He rushed out.  
“Right..um…I was just gonna say I hope he knows to get peppermint.” She said a wry smile on her face.  
He looked up at her. “Oh..yeah..I dunno.”  
“By the way I work Tuesday thru Friday for future reference.”  
“Oh..yeah, good to know.”  
“I really was just..y’know, wanting to make sure you were alright…you had mentioned you went through something similar I just..”  
“It’s fine Finn..and thank you, you’re very sweet..but I like to think I’ve come a long way and have learned to properly deal with things..I mean walking here this morning I was a tad uneasy because of what happened.”  
Finn nodded, “How do you mean a long way—“  
“Finn, when am I going to get the friends and family discount for the tea?”  
They both turned not realizing Archie had returned.  
“When we’ve been open longer than a month ya div, ya lucky I give you the employee discount here.”  
“Well, I do work here.” Arch said.  
“Ya well get to work then.”  
“Right, cause we’re so busy.” He replied sarcastically.  
“I’ll be behind the counter whilst you help all the customers.” He exaggerated waving his arm about the empty space.  
His eyes landed on Rae and she smiled small at him, “I’m Archie by the way.”  
“I gathered..Rae.” She replied.  
“I gathered…so you’re the gi—“  
“Just go behind the counter would ya.” Finn said annoyed.  
“Nice to meet you Rae.” Archie smirked.  
“You too.” She smiled.  
When Archie walked away Rae turned back to Finn. “Sorry about him.”  
“It’s alright..so you own this shop and the café next door?” She asked.  
“Yeah.” He smiled sheepishly.  
“How’d that happen..I mean why a record shop and a café?”  
“Well, music has always been a big part of me life..my Nan is who I owe it all to..she bought me my first vinyl, I was 8 and it was The Beatles Let it Be album..it all kind of just spiraled from there.”  
“We would listen to it at hers as I didn’t have a player then and me dad wasn’t about to trust and 8 year old with his..” He chuckled.  
“I grew into my own when I got a bit older..started spending allowances on vinyls..never thought I’d own my own shop one day..but here I am.” He grinned toothily.  
She nodded thoughtfully, “And the café?” she asked.  
“Ah, me Nan too..we used to drink a lot of tea..oceans of it..we would get tea at this quirky little shop whenever I’d visit her..tea makes everything alright…that’s what she used to tell me.” He said wistfully.  
“Your nan sounds lovely.” Rae said softly, she sensed that she was no longer with them.  
“Yeah…she..she was the best.” Finn sighed.  
Rae reached out placing her hand on the outside of his bicep giving it a small squeeze and him a soft smile, he smiled back tightly at her.  
The door chimed bringing them back to the present, Rae dropped her hand and Finn cleared his throat looking down at his watch.  
“Shops open, it’s just gone ten.” He said.  
Rae thought for a moment surely she couldn’t have been here that long, she was calculating in her head but didn’t keep track of the time so she must have been there at least an hour.  
“Right..I’ll let you get to it then.” She smiled.  
“You leaving?” he asked quickly.  
“This section..yes.” she smiled.  
He grinned toothily at her. “Right well, I guess I better head up front then.”  
“Right.” Rae said.  
“So..I’ll just be up front if—“  
“If I need you..got it.” she chuckled.  
“I’m just gonna..” he trailed off then turned walking away.  
Rae turned to head around to the next section when she heard Archie say, “Smooth.”  
Finn replying, “Shut it.”  
Rae giggled to herself as she walked towards the back of the shop.  
-  
She slowly made her way through the shop again her eye catching Finn’s every now and then, but he would look away quickly almost embarrassed for being caught. For being one of the fittest guys she’s ever come in contact with he didn’t seem all that confident. Also, she wasn’t exactly sure what was going on with him, he seemed to take real interest in her and he had divulged some pretty personal information, but then again maybe he told a lot of people the story of how he came to own a record shop and café.  
In the end Rae had decided on one album purchase and walked up to the counter with it.  
She set the album down in front of Archie. “Dire Straits?”  
She smiled and shrugged. “Finn..I think you better ring this one up.” He called.  
Finn walked out from the office behind Arch.  
He smiled when his eyes locked on hers. “All set then girl?”  
She nodded with a smile, he picked up the album. “Dire Straits?”  
“That’s what Archie said…you gonna call someone else to ring me up or do I have to take my business elsewhere.” She teased.  
“No..no…just interesting choice is all…I like them too.” He smiled as he rang her up.  
“Yeah..well..when I was 19 I worked at this record shop and this older guy..Gary, I think was his name, was always banging on about ‘em trying to convince me to listen to ‘em and well..it’s not bad..but I never owned anything and seeing it made me think of him…so” She smiled and shrugged.  
“His last name wouldn’t be Nelson would it?” Finn asked.  
She thought for a moment. “I don’t think I ever caught his sir name.”  
“Uh-huh right..” he nodded.  
“How much?” she asked.  
“Oh..um 10.”  
“Don’t think that was the price on the tag.”  
“I don’t what you’re talking about.” He said as he peeled off the tag.  
“Finn.” She said.  
“Rae.” He replied.  
“You don’t have to.”  
“Its fine..so anyway..where was this record shop you worked at?” he asked slipping the album into a bag.  
“Oh in Stamford, where I’m from.” She said handing him the money.  
“So you went to college there?”  
“Yeah.”  
“How old are you?” he asked.  
“Er..24..”  
He shook his head and started to chuckle.  
“What.” She asked.  
“That were me dad bangin’ on about Dire Straits then.”  
“What?”  
“I’m from Stamford..I’m a year older than you..so we would have went to the same college only I left to go stay with me uncle in Leeds the last year of college.”  
“Really?” she said baffled.  
“Yeah.”  
“Small world huh.”  
“Yeah..real small.”  
“Arch..you would have went to college with Rae..you remember her.”  
“No, sorry Rae…but back then I was a bit under the radar..hadn’t come out yet.”  
“Yeah I don’t remember you either, I basically kept to myself.”  
“College was…”  
“Rough.” she and Archie said in unison.  
“Do you remember Simmy and Stacey?”  
“Ugh…two names I could go the rest of my life without hearing.” She said in disgust.  
“Made my life hell.” Rae said.  
Finn looked at her worrisomely. “H-how so?” he asked.  
“Come on Finn you dated her..you know how vile she could be.” Archie piped up.  
“I.I..”  
“You went out with Stacey.” Rae said in shock, Stacey made her life a nightmare her first year of college her and her gang of followers hassled her as often as they could.  
“It was for a week…that’s it, I swear.” He said defensively.  
“A long horrible week..she put you through hell.” Archie said.  
“Don’t remind me..I too could go without hearing that name.”  
“Yeah..what she do to you?” Rae asked intrigue getting the better of her.  
Finn ducked his head seeming almost too shy or embarrassed.  
“Well, as I’m sure you can see Finn is kinda fit, well, according to basically everyone…so she mainly just used him..showed him off and stuff was her arm candy like.” Archie answered.  
“And you didn’t like that?” she asked, most guys she saw dating Stacey were the same as her, they paraded each other around acting superior to everyone.  
“Would you like it if someone treated you based on how you looked?” he asked her.  
She winced memories of the past coming back in force. “N-no..I wouldn’t.”  
She could feel tears pricking her eyes and a lump forming in her throat.  
“Yeah..well me either.” He said.  
“Right…well, I’m just g-gonna go..th-thanks for..” she stuttered holding up the bag.  
She turned quickly and made her way out of the shop as soon as the door opened a tear fell, she hadn’t even made the corner and she felt a hand on her arm, she winced and pulled her arm away.  
“Rae…Rae…it’s just me.” Finn pleaded.  
“What happened, are you okay?” he asked.  
She nodded and took a step forward but he walked around in front of her.  
“Hey..stop..what happened.” He asked.  
“Nothing..I’m fine.” She said and quickly wiped a tear away.  
“No you’re not fine something made you cry.”  
“Its..its..not important.” She said softly.  
“Well, how about we go get a cup of tea let you calm down a bit.”  
She barely nodded. “Yeah..was that a yeah?”  
She nodded a bit harder. “Yeah.” She said finally looking up at him.  
“Alright.” He smiled.  
They turned and walked back towards the café, Finn opened the door for her and told her to take a seat and he would get the tea. She sat towards the back of the café and wiped at her damp cheeks.  
“Here…tea makes everything alright.” He said as he sat the tea in front of her.  
She laughed through her nose as she picked up the tea and took a sip.  
“Beth remembered how you liked it..said you were in here earlier.”  
“Thank you.” She spoke softly.  
“It’s alright.”  
“Better?” he asked.  
She took a deep breath and sat down her cup of tea.  
“In college I was treated based on how I look..and it wasn’t the same way you were treated..I mean it’s horrible to be treated in anyway solely on how you look but..I was treated pretty badly because..well I’m bigger aren’t I..still am sometimes treated badly..like the other night.”  
“I just hadn’t thought about that part of my life in a long time, I mean I just push it back when the memories creep up…but the other night and then the mentioning of Stacey kind of just brought it all back.”  
“So that’s what you meant the other night then…when you said you should be used to it..because you went through it before working at the club.”  
She nodded and he reached out placing his hand atop hers.  
“I’m sorry.” He spoke softly.  
“It’s in the past..I’m stronger than I used to be but somedays..”  
“Are rougher than others.”  
“Yeah.”  
Finn rubbed his thumb across the top of her hand.  
“Sorry to get all..emotional on ya.”  
“It’s fine..I don’t mind..it’s nice to talk to someone..I..I haven’t really talked to anyone in ages…especially about me nan..”  
“And I can’t believe you knew my dad.” He chuckled.  
“I guess you sorta look like him..just not with the shaggy hair.” She said happy for the change in subject.  
“Aye, he’s bald now.”  
“No way!”  
“Yeah..shaved it off a few years back.”  
“Oh wow…he loved his hair.”  
“Yeah..well he got re-married and wanted to look presentable or somethin’ like that he said for pictures so off with it..Meredith liked it long but he insisted so..” Finn shrugged.  
“That’s nice.” She said.  
Finn glanced at his watch, “Um…I need to get back to the shop, I can’t leave Archie on his own too long but do you think you’d wanna..maybe go out sometime?”  
“Uh yeah, I’d like that.” She smiled softly.  
“Great..er.. just a minute.” He said.  
He walked over to the counter and then came back with two napkins and a pen.  
He wrote on his napkin and handed it to her, “here is my mobile number and home number.”  
He handed her the pen and a napkin she wrote her number on it. “I only have a home phone haven’t gotten a mobile yet..maybe I should get with the times.” She laughed.  
“I didn’t want one either but it’s good to have for business.”  
She passed him her napkin, “Right, well I’ll give you a ring soon and we’ll set something up.” He smiled.  
He stood up and she made to stand up as well. “No, you stay and finish your tea.”  
She smiled and sat back down.  
He got up and walked around the table bending down giving her a kiss on the cheek, “talk soon girl.” He winked at her when he pulled away then hurried out the door.  
It had been 8 long years, but she’s learned to love herself and believe she’s worthy to be loved by another, there had been a few bumps in the road, some she still struggles with but she knew now that it wouldn’t be impossible for someone like Finn to like her, which she wasn’t even sure if he did as more than a friend for the time being so she didn’t mind talking a bit about her past if it came up, but not her dark days of self-loathing and her time in the mental home, that was something she only revealed in time, to either a partner or a good friend when the time was right.  
Rae smiled deliriously as she finished her tea, and all the way home excited about future possibilities.  
-  
She continued to smile as she walked into her flat, replaying all the little touches and glances they shared throughout the day, the way he opened up to her, and she opening up in return.  
As she set her keys down by her phone she saw the light flashing on her voicemail.  
She pressed play a familiar voice booming through her flat.  
“Hey girl, you’re not home yet but I couldn’t wait to call ya..you said you work Tuesday through Friday so I was thinking we could got out to dinner or somethin’ tomorrow, call me back and let me know…can’t wait to hear from you.”  
Rae’s delirious smile grew into a face breaking grin, she chuckled to herself and then replayed the message, once or twice.  
She looked at her clock and decided to wait until she thought the shop closed up to call him.  
To keep herself busy she decided to sort out her box of magazines whilst listening to her new album.  
She went to the fridge and grabbed a bottled water before sitting on the floor ready to tackle the massive pile of mags, most NME’s but some fashion due to her best friend Chloe leaving them behind.  
She took them out sorting them into category and was surprised to have one foody mag, she organized all the NME’s by date then put them back in the wicker box. She decided to toss the others as she was likely to never read them.  
When she was done the record was finished and still she didn’t want to call him yet so she decided to take a hot bath.  
She went to her bedroom and undressed, she wrapped herself in her dressing gown and made her way to the bathroom, she turned the water on and then picked out a bath balm to drop in the water.  
She submerged herself, the water feeling soothing as she relaxed against the head rest. She couldn’t help but think if this would have happened if she wouldn’t have dialed the wrong number by accident.  
She most likely would have met him at the record shop but would it have gone beyond a friendly chat, would they have opened up to each other as much. She wouldn’t know, all she did know is that she had a date. She stopped for a moment thinking if that’s what it was, was it a date. He said he liked talking to her, but what if that’s all it was he just wanted to talk to her some more.  
“Stop it..it’s a date silly, he asked you out for dinner.” She told herself.  
She finished her bath after soaking for an hour. She emptied the bath then wrapped herself in her dressing gown and made her way to her bedroom.  
After she was dried off and dressed she had her hair wrapped in a towel and was staring at her phone. She shook her head and walked back to her bathroom and brushed out her hair, she walked back out of the bathroom to look at the phone, she turned walking back in picking up her hair dryer she dried her hair.  
Twenty minutes later with her hair fully dried she had the phone in one hand and the napkin in the other, it was going on six and she figured the shop was probably closed, she looked at the napkin and wondered what number to call. If he wasn’t home she could leave a message on his machine she supposed, and he did say he got his mobile for work, but he did give her the number.  
As she dialed she realized she had chosen his mobile.  
“Hello..”  
“Hiya..it’s Rae.”  
“Perfect timing I just closed up shop.”  
“Oh yeah, have a good day then?”  
“Well, my morning was good.”  
Rae smiled her hand over her mouth as if trying to stop a giggle from escaping.  
“Oh yeah, mine wasn’t half bad either.”  
“That’s great to hear.”  
“So..er..about our date…”  
Her smile grew just hearing him confirm it was an actual date, maybe he did like her a bit more than as a friend.   
“..Did tomorrow work for you?”  
“Yeah tomorrow is perfect..what time?”  
“I’ll pick you up at yours about 5?”  
“Yeah..but um..don’t you have the shops?”  
“Oh well, Beth closes up the café and well I the rest of day showing Archie what to do so I don’t think he could muck up too bad leaving him on his own for a few hours.”  
“Oh right.” She chuckled.  
“So tomorrow at 5 then?”  
“Yes, I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
“Have a good night Finn.”  
“You to Rae.”  
Rae set the phone down a massive grin breaking across her face, she stood rooted for a moment before walking off to her kitchen a small dance ensuing on the way.  
-  
She hadn’t been on a date in close to 2 year and she never really dated much in general, only ever having one long term boyfriend, if 3 months even counted as long term, he was not good for her and she soon realized it and ended things, then she moved where she is currently and had only dated one guy, it didn’t show any promise so it dwindled out quickly, and she did have a one off with a guy she met at the club.  
The majority of the day was spent going through every item of clothing she owned to find the perfect first date outfit, she wasn’t sure if she should dress up or go casual, or somewhere in between. She had a few nice dresses but she figured that he wasn’t the type to do fancy on the first date, and she liked that, she hadn’t known him for long but they seemed sorta similar.  
In the end she had 45 minutes left until he arrived, she was still in her dressing gown as she did her makeup in the bathroom, just a bit of light eye shadow and mascara. She softly curled the ends of her hair and further softened them by running her brush through the ends. When she was done she went back into her room to face the scattered clothes.  
In the end she choose her black skinny jeans to go with a sheer Navy blue button up blouse a black vest underneath, she left a few of the buttons undone an appropriate amount of cleavage on display, and she figured it was in between dress up and dress down, she was now currently deciding if she should put on her blue converse or her black flats, she didn’t know if they would be walking or driving to their destination.  
As she had one of each shoe on her feet trying to decide there was a knock at her door, she quickly made a decision and kicked off her converse sliding her other black flat on. She grabbed her leather jacket and her purse but then quickly ducked into the bathroom to spritz herself with her perfume. She rushed back out to the door and took a deep breath then opened it.  
“Hi..” he said as dropped his hand from ruffling his hair.  
“Hiya.” She beamed, glad to see him and that he was not to dressed up, he was wearing dark gray fitted jeans with a black hennley two buttons undone, a leather jacket and boots.  
She watched him give her a once over before his eyes met hers, his cheeks tinged a faint pink.  
“Y-you look wonderful.”  
“Thanks..you don’t look half bad yourself.” She replied sheepishly.  
They held each other’s gaze a moment, “Ahem…you ready?” he asked.  
Rae nodded, Finn stepped aside she walked out shutting her door behind her she turned and locked her door.  
She turned facing Finn and he smiled holing his hand out for her to go first.  
There was not much exchanged as they made their way down the two flights of stairs, when they reached the bottom he opened the door for and she stepped out, she then quickly shrugged on her leather jacket and arranged the strap of her purse on her left shoulder. Finn then slid his hand in hers lacing their fingers together.  
“This way girl.” He motioned with his head.  
“So where are we headed this evening?” she asked as they fell into a nice pace.  
“Well, I was thinking we’d go for an early dinner and then there is a record shop a few blocks down, and they are having a small acoustic session so I thought we’d do that after.”  
“Sounds perfect.” She smiled.  
He smiled at her and gave her hand small squeeze, “So how was your day?” he asked.  
“Uneventfully boring until now…how about yours?”  
He snorted a laugh. “Same.”  
“Liar.”  
“No really..nothing exciting happened today.”  
“But you’re surrounded by lyrical geniuses, you can play whatever you want and even if there are no customers, sitting and listening to an epic song is far from boring.”  
“Yeah, well, I do agree that listening to a good song is far from boring, its actually on of my favorite things to do actually, just sit and listen to the music…but it all added up to nothing today..too anxious to see you again.” He smiled then ducked his head.  
She bumped his shoulder with hers, both of them beginning to chuckle.  
“I’m serious though..I thought I might have sounded a bit eager calling you so soon, and when you didn’t call back right away, I got a bit nervous.”  
“You got nervous about me?” she asked in disbelief.  
“Yeah…I like talkin’ to ya…and you’re the only person I’ve ever really opened up to about me Nan, and that means something to me.”  
“Well, seein’ as its honesty hour, I guess that I can tell you that…I did want to call you back immediately after I heard your message..but I didn’t want to seem so eager either.”  
“But if it makes you feel better I thought it was quite sweet that you called right away.”  
“That’s a relief.” He said releasing a puff of air.  
“Here.” He said pointing up ahead.  
“Oh, I’ve haven’t been to this place yet.” She said excitedly.  
“Oh yeah..me either.” He smiled.  
He opened the door for her and were shown to a table, it was a Japanese restaurant where the food is cooked in front of you. Rae decided on a chicken dish, Finn on pork, both agreeing to share with one another.  
They chatted while their food was being cooked, Finn sharing his story of his failed attempt at chopsticks that resulted in his dad getting hit in the eye, Rae was in stitches over it.  
“I’m not jokin’ he had to wear an eye patch for a month.” He chuckled.  
“Oh poor Gary and with that long hair I’m sure he looked like a proper pirate.” She laughed.  
“Aye aye captain.” Finn replied.  
She laughed heartier near tears her hand playfully slapping his thigh. When her giggles subsided she looked at him to see him with a warm expression and soft smile.  
“What.” She asked still softly smiling.  
He shook his head trying to hold in a face breaking grin.  
“What?” She asked again.  
“I like your laugh.” He replied, he lay his hand over top of hers resting on his thigh.  
She felt her cheeks go hot and ducked her head looking away shyly.  
His thumb ran over the top of hand. “I’m trying really hard not to laugh right now.” She said.  
“Why?” he chuckled.  
“Because that’s what happens when someone points something out..you automatically try not to do it whatever it is.”  
“Okay fine, then I can’t tell you about the time that I accidently singed off me dads eyebrows.”  
She tried to hold in her laugh but it didn’t last long.  
“Okay, okay tell me..” she said laughed.  
As they ate dinner they laughed sharing stories of their past, Rae shared a few like the time she refused to wear anything but a bathing suit when she was little. But mostly she enjoyed listening to him talk, it seemed like he was freshly reliving these memories from when he was younger, like he hadn’t thought about them in years. Her younger years were not all happy like his seemed to be, maybe that’s why she enjoyed listening. Although he seemed to never mention his mum in any stories he shared she figured it would come up in time as would her darker past.  
As they left the restaurant Finn slung his arm over her shoulders pulling her close talking in her ear, she played with his fingers resting over her shoulder. It was mainly nonsense about stuff him and Archie got up to when they were teens, but she enjoyed that he made her laugh so much.  
Soon they walked to the record shop, one she knew well.  
“Hi Rae…and Finn.” Dave chirped in surprise.  
“You know Dave?” Rae asked.  
“Yeah for years.” Finn smiled.  
“I’m mates with his brother…”  
“Chop..” Finn and Rae said together.  
“You know Chop?” Finn asked.  
“Yeah..well I’ve talk to him a few times when he’s in here.” She said.   
“It’s odd I’ve been coming here…well since I’ve lived here, I’ve never seen you.”  
“I only come in once or twice a week, less now that I got my shop but even when I did it was near closing time.” Finn said.  
“Makes sense…I work nights..I come in the morning.” Rae said.  
“So…uh how did you two meet then?” Dave asked.  
“It’s kind of a long story.” Rae said looking to Finn.  
“Right…” Dave drawled.  
Rae looked at Finn wondering how they should tell the story of how they met. Finn was the one who answered.  
“Well, you see what happened was..”  
After Finn retold the story of the wrong number he explained how she came into the shop a day later and they got to talking and hit it off.  
“Wow…how serendipitous.” He in awe.  
Rae and Finn looked at each other and smiled then looked back at Dave. “Right well, the set is about two hours..you can take any available seat…we’ve got a pretty eclectic set tonight.”  
“Thanks mate.” Finn said slapping him on the shoulder.  
The seats they chose were off to the side near the far wall.  
Rae shrugged off her leather jacket and folded it over her lap, Finn slung his left arm over her shoulders playing with a strand of her hair.  
“Is it weird..” they both started, then laughed.  
“Go ahead.” He said.  
“I was just saying is it weird that we never met before…like we lived in the same town, know some of the same people, yet we’ve never met.”  
“I was going to say the same thing.”  
“It’s interesting one accidental call brought us to meet.”  
“Well, we would have met when you came into the shop.” He pointed out.  
“True…but what if when I went in and you said you weren’t open yet, I would have left and might not of come back..and that would have been that.”  
“Trust me I would have let you stay.” He said confidently.  
“You don’t know that.”   
“I do know that.”  
“How?”  
“Because like fuck would I let a stunner like you leave…plus coming early to a record shop means you like to avoid the mainstream crowd and the giggling teens, it’s all about the music for you.”  
“Stunner, eh?” she smiled.  
“You know your beautiful.” He smiled.  
She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. They spoke softly about the record shop and how long he’s known Dave and Chop, and not before long the first person came up.  
She sat on a stool and introduced herself, her set consisted mainly of Fleetwood Mac. Rae leant her head on Finns shoulder as she closed out her set with Landslide.  
The next person to come up was a guy who looked to be about 40, he sat down with his acoustic adjusted the mic stand, his songs were that of the country variety, some Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings, he closed out his set with I’m a long way from home.  
The lyrics in that particular song hit hard for Rae. She wiped away a stray tear, and clapped softly along with the rest of the crowd. She felt Finn rub her back and then give her shoulder a small squeeze.  
There was a short break in between the two sets the others moved around a bit chatting.  
“You alright?” Finn asked softly.  
“Yeah.” She replied.  
“You sure, we can leave?”  
“No, I wanna stay.” She said with a soft smile.  
“Alright.” He leaned in placing a light kiss on her temple.  
Two more performers went on before the third and final act, which was a cover of Oasis songs.  
Both Rae and Finn sung along softly to each song, but during the closing song Champagne Supernova they remained quiet Finn still with his arm over her shoulder.  
The walk to Rae’s house consisted of small talk surrounding the sets both having enjoyed each one in different ways.  
Rae was grateful that Finn didn’t push the issue of what happened during the second set, she wasn’t ready to divulge that information yet, especially not on a first date.  
She unlocked her door and turned back to Finn, “I had really lovely time..thank you.”  
He reached out taking her right hand in his left. “I’m glad….when can I see you again?”  
“Well, I’m really only free on the weekends and Monday with my knew schedule, I work 7pm-2am the other days.”  
“Right..Saturday then?” he asked.  
“Saturday.” She nodded and smiled.  
“Okay..I’ll give you a ring and we can discuss times and stuff.”  
“Sounds good.”  
“Good night Finn.”  
“Night Rae.” He continued holding her hand as he stepped closer his body near against hers as he leaned in leaving a lingering kiss on the cheek.  
She smiled and opened her door with her free hand she turned back to him. “I’ll talk to you later.” She said, leaning in she briefly brushed her lips against his then dropped his hand.  
“Wait what?” he asked happily in shock.  
“Night Finnley.”  
“Wait, that’s how its gonna be?”  
“That’s how it’s gonna be..talk to you soon.” She said as she closed the door on his happy face.  
She leaned against her door laughing to herself, when she finally heard the pattering of his boots she pushed off and went to her room, she was in too good of a mood to clean up the mess she made earlier, she got undressed pulled on an old band shirt and fell in bed.  
–  
The next morning Rae woke up around 9 she got out of bed pulled on some leggings and went to make some tea and toast, she knew after that she would have to clean up the mess in her room, but surprisingly she was not dreading it, she was too happy to let that bring her down. She had just got done pouring her tea and wondering when Finn would call and if she would be home to answer when there was a knock at the door.  
She picked up her tea and stirred it as she mindlessly walked over to the door, she let the spoon sit as she opened the door.  
“Fi—“ she was cut off with his lips on hers.  
He pulled away far too quickly for her liking, “Have a good day talk to you later!” he said as he walked backwards.  
“Wait what…where are you going?” she asked stepping into the hall.  
“Work.” He said as if it were obvious.  
“Like that is it?” she laughed.  
“Yep.” He winked and turned away.  
Rae watched him until he was no longer insight chuckling to herself.  
That afternoon Finn called and they agreed upon a time for their date.  
-  
Later that week on Thursday Rae went to the shop to see him, she had talked to him every day but found herself missing seeing him and she wanted a bit of payback for what happened earlier in the week.  
As she walked in the shop she didn’t see Finn right away, she nodded to Archie who almost spoke to her but she shushed him with a finger to her mouth, soon she saw Finn come from the back part of the shop, she moved quickly into an aisle and walked alongside him from an opposing side, when they both reached the end she turned into him.  
“Ra—“  
She kissed him pretty roughly as he was still in motion when she caught him, she allowed the kiss to get a bit heated but pulled away quickly.  
“See ya later.” She said with a cheeky smile as she now walked away backwards.  
“Wait where you going?”  
“Gotta get ready for work.” She said in an obvious tone.  
-  
As the weeks went by they carved out as much time as they could for each other, they spoke on the phone every day, and the weekends were spent together, and for the first two weeks they showed up un announced just to share a brief kiss before leaving.  
But now as it was further into their relationship when Rae would go see him at work she would go earlier so she could spend as much time as possible with him.  
“Rae..will ya put that down.” Finn said.  
“Okay..” She said looking for the right place to put it in.  
“No, I mean just put it down.” He said as he walked over to her.  
When he got to her he kissed her firmly as he took the record out of her hand.  
“I told you, you don’t have to help.” He said as he went to put it the album back in its right spot.  
“But I don’t mind.” She said.  
“Yeah, but you’re me girlfriend you don’t have ta..it’s what I pay him for.” Finn said as he tossed his pen at Archie.  
“Leave him alone, he had a rough night.” Rae cooed tucking herself under Finns arm wrapping one arm around his waist.  
“Not my fault he don’t know when to call it quits..never has.” Finn said.  
“Can you be quiet please it feels like—“  
“Someone has taken a piss on your soul…yeah yeah, got it Arch.” Finn said.  
“Come on.” He grabbed Rae’s hand pulling her into the office then shut the door.  
“Are you sure he’ll be okay out there?” she asked as Finn sat on the settee.  
“Yes, now come here.” He said patting his lap.  
“He looks really bad though.”  
“Rae would you rather be in here kissin’ ya boyfriend or lookin’ after a probably still pissed Archie.”  
“Tough decision.” She said tapping her chin.  
“Really?”  
“No.” she snorted.  
She walked over and sat on his lap. He pushed her hair off her shoulder and she leaned down kissing him. He held one hand to the back of her neck the other resting around her waist as the kiss deepened. Soon she slid off his lap laying on the settee and he was hovering over her as they kissed. She fisted the back of his shirt as he kissed down her neck. She wanted him badly and he never pressured her and always seemed to know when to stop, there was some heavy petting but clothes always stayed for the most part on.  
It was now the end of August and she knew they were solid, he told her about how his mum left when he was little and how his Nan filled that empty void, how he left to live in Leeds because he couldn’t handle her death, and that he was glad his Dad had Meredith so he wouldn’t be alone. She in turn told him how her dad left but wasn’t old enough to remember him, she told him some more of her of her horror stories about being bullied but had yet to mention how she hurt herself.  
Finn stopped she could feel him hard against her, he kissed her chastely before sitting upright back against the settee.  
He pulled her legs on top of his lap. “Finn.” She spoke softly.  
“Can we just stay in tonight..I wanna talk to you about something.”  
“Yeah..I wanted to talk to you too actually.” He smiled as he rubbed her leg.  
She smiled at him, “What time do you—“  
“Finn!” Archie called.  
“I better go save him.” Finn sighed.  
Rae moved her legs off him and he stood holding his hand out for her, she took it and he pulled her up and kissed her. “to be continued.” He said.  
As they walked out of the office Archie was holding the phone for him to take. Finn took it and held his hand over it, “I’ll see you tonight girl, won’t be till a bit later than usual with this hazard.” He smirked looking over at Archie still looking worse for the wear.  
“That’s alright.” She chuckled, she pecked him on the cheek and when she turned he tapped her lightly on the bum.  
She looked at him with a cheeky smile and winked.  
“Feel better Arch.” She said wrapping her knuckles against the top of the counter causing him to groan.  
-  
When Rae got home she checked her messages, there was the standard one from her mum and baby sister. Then there was one from Chloe, she was wanting to set up a girly night with her and Izzy, Chops girlfriend, who surprisingly remembered Rae from college.  
Rae called Chloe back who offered her times with when they could hang out, Rae told her she would get back to her after she talked with Finn explaining that she wasn’t sure if he had planned anything as he said he wanted to talk to her.  
After she hung up, she saw the napkin with Finn’s phone numbers on it where she kept sitting by the phone. As she looked at it she pondered how on earth she got Chloe’s number so wrong, Finn’s number was nowhere near close to Chloe’s, she let it go for the time being and went around tidying up her flat.  
She knew what she was going to tell Finn it was just a matter of how to tell him. She practiced different ways but still was unsure of which way to go about it.  
At 8 he was knocking at her door.  
“Hiya.”  
“Hi.” He walked in giving her a quick peck.  
“I brought Chinese.” He said walking towards the kitchen.  
They sat on the settee eating and Finn recalling what happened after she left. How Archie had ran past a few customers and nearly didn’t make it outside before he vomited.  
“Some guy was like punk section more like puke section.” Finn laughed.  
“Aw poor Arch..is he feeling better?”  
“I hope, sent him home early.”  
“Oh what a nice boss you are.” She said pinching him on the cheek.  
“Yeah, yeah..so anyway what did you want to talk about?” he asked putting his plate on the table in front of him.  
“Why don’t you go first.” She said.  
“Okay..well Dad wants me to visit next weekend so I was hoping you would come with me.”  
Well she was not expecting that. “Oh..I wish I could but Chloe and Izzy got to me first for next weekend wanna have a proper girly night away from you lot.” Rae teased.  
“Ah, that’s alright…have ya girly night, I suppose I should share ya more.”  
“Another time?”  
“Sure.” She nodded.  
“Right..well what did you wanna talk about?” he asked.  
“Umm..kinda wanted to talk about why wehavenotdoneityet.” She mumbled.  
“Ya what?”  
“Sex..” she blurted out.  
“I mean why we haven’t.”  
“Oh..yeah okay..go ahead.” He nodded for her to continue.  
“Well, why do you think we haven’t done it..I mean you kinda just always seem to know when to stop when things get heated.”  
He let out a puff of air “Well, I’d like to think I know your body language, I mean I want to like really wanna but you seem to tense a little when things are getting ‘heated’..so I figured you weren’t, y’know ready.”  
“I’m not a virgin if that’s what ya think.” She snorted a laugh.  
“Well, I’m just saying I’m ready whenever you are.” He smiled.  
He scooted closer to her taking her hand in his. “But I take it that you wanna tell me why were not..”  
“Yeah.” She nodded.  
“Its kinda hard to talk about..and now I only bring it up if I know or think I’m gonna be with the person for a while.”  
“Okay..well I’m not going anywhere…I’m ready to listen when you’re ready to talk.” He smiled softly.  
“Right..well, y’know how I told you I was bullied a lot?”  
He nodded for her to continue.  
“Well, the spring before I first started college..it..it was bad, really bad and I hurt myself..I mean I had done it loads of times before, hot water, binging, but cutting was the main source…then one day I went too far, my mum, she found me…and well after I was treated for my wounds I was subsequently admitted to a mental home..for 4 months to get help where I had therapy and stuff to cope.”  
“And I mean that’s not the reason I wanted to wait to have sex…I mean well it is..but because my scars..their on my thighs and I wanted you to know where they came from before anything happened…because I had y’know like a one off a long time ago and they asked but I never said..”  
He nodded thoughtfully. “And did it help..therapy?”  
“It took a while for me to come ‘round to the idea of it but once I started to accept myself it did..my therapist, Kester..he told me I had to soothe myself..I saw him up until I turned 18, then after that I saw another therapist Charlotte, until I was 21 and then stopped because I was better… I still have rough days and I always will and I know Kester and Charlotte are there if I need them, and once or twice I’ve called Kester..but I’m miles away from where I used to be even a few years ago.”  
“I’ve learned to love and accept myself for who I am…that I’m perfect the way I am.” She shrugged.  
Finn was smiling at her with watery eyes, he pulled her into a hug, “I’m so proud of you, Rae”  
“You’ve been through hell and you came out on top, stronger than ever.” He whispered to her.  
“Well, I’m not that strong I still have certain things that get to me but I think that’s a talk for another time.” She said.  
“Oh yeah.” He said pulling just enough away to look at her.  
“Yeah.” She breathed then her lips were on his.  
He pulled away taking her face in between his hands, “You sure?” he whispered.  
“Oh yeah..it’s been a while..and I want you.” She said breathless.  
“The feelings mutual girl.”  
-  
“Rae..oh god your killing me.” He moaned.  
“Sshh.” She hushed him kissing and licking up and down his chest.  
“Let me take care of you.” He said breathless.  
“All in good time.” She hushed.  
She hadn’t done it in a long while and was really dying to have him, yeah he begged her to let him take care of her first but she wasn’t having it, she wanted to see what was underneath his clothes, and not to her surprise she found his defined abs that she really couldn’t get enough of.  
She was straddling him, hovering just above the hard bulge in his boxers, she still had her panties on and each time she kissed down his chest on the way up she would brush herself ever so slowly against his bulge which would elicit a deep moan out of him, and then press her chest into him teasing him a little more.  
She repeated it over and over again, that combined with his particularly sensitive right nipple she knew she was driving him crazy, causing him to thrust up and his groan would get deeper.   
He finally couldn’t take it anymore she was kissing him rubbing herself against him and like a man starved he flipped them over.  
She let out a small giggle but it was soon replaced with a moan as he attacked her neck. He sucked and licked his way down her body.  
He was tugging off her panties kissing down her legs as he pulled them off, he slid off his boxers as well letting them drop on the floor next to hers. On his way back up he stopped at her scar covered thighs taking his time softly kissing them and telling her how beautiful and strong she is.  
He kissed closer to where she ached the most. “Now Ms. Earl you’ve been a proper little tease.” He said inching closer, he parted her lips and licked once from her opening to her clit. Her hands immediately found his hair as he lightly licked her clit, she writhed pushing her hips up urging him to go harder but he continued to tease her.  
“Fiiiinn…” she whined.  
He kissed his way back up her body his lips finding hers, he kissed her deeply her thighs falling back open as he rubbed her clit, he slipped one finger in another one following shortly after. She moaned into the kiss her hips bucking when he hit her spot, he rubbed her clit with his thumb kissing her through her orgasm.  
She finally broke their kiss panting heavily he worked mercilessly nipping at her neck, she could feel how hard he was and bucked her hips up for him.  
He pulled away a lusty look on his face as he sat up between her thighs and reached over grabbing a condom off her bedside table. He rolled it on smoothly then leant over her kissing her softly, he rubbed his cock back and forth between her slit.  
“Ready.” He asked.  
“Mhmm.” She hummed.  
He slid into her both moaning when he was fully in, he started slow building up a rhythm. They kissed until he started to build a faster pace, then they were moaning each other’s names, a series of profanities and instructions, of going harder and faster.  
“Oh fuck…I’m almost there don’t stop.” Rae cried as Finn thrust hard into her.  
He grunted and picked up her left leg wrapping it around his waist, the change in angle felt like he was deeper, she groaned and he groaned in pleasure.  
“I’m coming.” He said, then reached down between their bodies rubbing her clit.  
Rae pressed her head down further into the pillow as she came, her body arched and a scream of pleasure ripped through her. Finn came seconds after moaning her name.  
He collapsed on top of Rae both breathing heavily.  
“Fuck..” he breathed.  
“That were…fucking amazing.”  
“Yeah..” Rae said breathless running her hands up his back.  
Finn rolled off of Rae and quickly got up to discard the condom.  
When he came back he lifted her duvet for them to get under. Rae snuggled up next to Finn her head resting on his shoulder.  
“I’m sorry for the wait.” She said.  
“Hey, don’t be.” He cooed.  
“No, I mean if I knew it was gonna be like that I would of jumped ya bones a long time ago.” She laughed.   
“Well, as much as I would have enjoyed you ‘jumpin’ my bones’ as you so delicately put it..I’m happy ya waited, cos’ like ya said, you wanted to be sure we’re solid and I’m happy that you think that because we are, I’m not going anywhere.” He placed kiss on her temple.  
“Good.” She sighed.  
“So you stayin’ then?” she asked.  
“If it’s alright.”  
“Of course it is…besides I want to have another go.”  
“Oh girl..” he moaned as she stroked him.  
–  
The week went by as usual, Rae visiting Finn at the shop during the day then later in the evening she would go to work, Finn would show up sometimes after he closed up shop but she was always too distracted when he was around to focus on anything else so he’d have one drink and leave.  
The weekend came when he was to go visit his dad and she was to have a girly weekend with Chloe and Izzy, she had called Chloe back the next day suggesting to make a weekend of it since Finn was going to visit his dad, she left out that he had invited her to go with him.  
When Saturday arrived, Finn left her with a breathless kiss and promises of calling when he had a chance and that he would see her sometime the next day.  
A little while later Chloe and Izzy were at her door arms filled with magazines, sweets and overnight bags.  
-  
“Alright Rae..the time has come.” Chloe drunkenly giggled.  
“How is Finn..y’know..” she giggled and tried to wink.  
“Chloe!” Rae said.  
“What..I told you about Dylan plenty of times and Izzy told us about Chop.”  
“Yeah but you guys just willing blurt it out.” She said.  
“Oh come on Rae tell us…I’ve always wondered what Finn would be like.” Izzy said looking off into the distance.  
“Izzy that’s my boyfriend you’re talking about.” Rae scolded her playfully.  
“Rae..don’t forget I’ve seen him without a shirt on before..on several occasions…you can’t help but wonder with a body like his.” Izzy shrugged.  
“Oh my god.” Rae said hiding her face behind her hands.  
“Sooooo.” Chloe drawled.  
“Promise you won’t say nothin.” Rae said her and Chloe both looked at Izzy.  
“Why you do you guys always look at me?” Izzy pouted.  
“We’re not.” Chloe said.  
“I won’t say nothin’.” Izzy said.  
“Right well…” she trailed off with a cheeky smile.  
“Rae!” they shouted.  
“Alright, alright.” She chuckled.  
“What can I say ladies, he’s fucking amazing..the best I’ve ever had…can go for hours.”  
“And he likes to go down for a long, long time.”  
“Lucky bitch.” Chloe laughed.  
“It’s like he has gills or somethin’”  
“Where’ve you guys done it?” Chloe asked.  
“I’m not gonna tell you.” Rae said.  
“Come on..Rae.”  
“Yeah Rae come on.” Izzy adde.d  
“Well, here and at his place, once at work…and once or twice at the record shop.”  
“Rae you sex deviant you!” Chloe laughed.  
“I really like it in the shop…he goes hard and fast and I wanna scream but I can’t so he has me bite into his shoulder.” Rae sighed happily.  
“Fuck Rae, you’ve had a week of pure sexed up bliss.” Chloe laughed.  
“Definitely.” Rae agreed.  
“What do you mean only a week…did you not sleep with him before?” Izzy asked.  
Rae and Chloe looked at each other.  
Rae went on to tell Izzy about why she waited with Finn.  
-  
The next morning the girls woke up thoroughly hung over, Rae went to make some tea while Chloe went to the bathroom and Izzy changed, she walked back into the lounge with her cup of tea and saw the light on her voicemail flashing.  
She clicked play.  
“Hey girl, you must be out with Chloe and Izzy or somethin’..I’m just headed off to bed now..I miss you, can’t wait to see you tomorrow..maybe you can give me left shoulder a bruise so I have a matching set..see you tomorrow.”  
Rae sighed happily as she sipped her tea, she turned to go sit on the settee but was met with Izzy and Chloe who doing their best not to laugh.  
“Shut up.” Rae laughed embarrassed.  
“We didn’t say nothin’.” Chloe said.  
“Whatever.” Rae mumbled.  
-  
Later that day the sun was high and the air was hot and thick, the girls decided to head over to Chop and Izzy’s as they had a pool, although she had her swim suit on underneath her white halter dress Rae declined getting in but instead sat on the edge her feet dangling in the water. Chop decided to have a barbeque and called up Archie telling him to close the shop early and come down as it was too nice of a day to be cooped up inside.  
An hour later Archie was there, the five of them laughing and drinking as they lazed about the pool.  
“Chop what time is it?” Rae asked walking up to Chop at the barbeque.  
“Going on 3 Raemundo.” He said glancing at his watch.  
She nodded, “Okay.”  
“Waitin’ on Finn?” He asked.  
“Yeah, I mean I left him a message saying this is where I was but maybe I should go home to wait for him.”  
“I’m sure he’ll call me when he gets close to see if your still here don’t worry Raemundo.” Chop grinned.  
“Yeah you’re right.” She smiled.  
“Aw someone misses Finn.” Archie teased.  
“Shut up Archie” Rae said and started to chase him.  
Archie sprinted around the pool, he and Rae divided by only a lounger, Rae looked down and picked up a water gun that Chop was using earlier and shot it at Archie.  
Archie took off grabbing the other water gun and him and Rae started squirting each other laughing and near crying when Archie slipped and fell in the pool.  
Then suddenly a bucket of water was dumped on top of her.  
“What the fuck.” She laughed turning around she saw Finn with only his swimming trunks on.  
“Finn..” She said.  
“Miss me girl?” he grinned.  
“You’re dead.” She said playfully.   
He took off running and she followed behind him, he stopped suddenly and he turned to pull her into the pool with him but she held her ground and instead pushed him in.  
Everyone started laughing Rae was near tears.  
“You better run.” He said as he swam to the edge and effortlessly got out of the pool.  
Rae barely had time to pull herself together from laughing so much before she took off sprinting across the lawn instead of around the pool.  
Finn caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.  
“Think you’re funny girl.” He said as he started to tickle her.  
“Finn.” She cried in laughter.  
“Say sorry.”  
“Never.” She was laughing so much she fell over, Finn going down with her.  
Rae rolled on to her back laughing Finn now hovering over her.  
Finn pushed a her hair out of her face and gently cupped her cheek, when her laughing subsided and she let out a happy sigh he leaned down kissing her.  
He pulled out of the kiss stroking her cheek.  
“God.. I love you.” He said.  
“I missed you too.” She replied quickly.  
“Wait…what?” She asked realizing what he said.  
“I..-“  
She cut him off leaning up kissing him roughly, she pulled him so he was flush against her, as the kiss deepened. They broke apart to the sounds of whooping and hollering.  
“Take me home..” Rae panted.  
“Show me how much you love me.” She said.  
Finn nodded and kissed her roughly once more.  
–  
When they were done hours later and snuggled up in Finn’s bed, Rae had her head on his shoulder tracing circles on his chest as he relaxed with his eyes shut.  
She looked up at him a small smile on his lips.  
“Finn…” she spoke softly.  
“Hmm.”  
She took a deep breath and traced I – L-O-V-E – Y-O-U -TOO across his chest.  
She felt him tense as she began to trace her declaration then release a breath when she was done. He scooped up her fingers in his.  
She looked up at him with the biggest smile she’s seen to date on his face.  
“So I didn’t scare ya then.”  
“No.” she smiled shaking her head.  
“Good..because I’ve pretty much been in love with you since our first date.” He said.  
“Really?”  
“Yeah.”  
“For me I think was it was when you left that first voicemail on my machine.”  
“That early.”  
She nodded against his shoulder.  
“You know the other day I was looking at the napkin you gave with your numbers on it and neither number is nowhere close to Chloe’s and somehow I still dialed you.”  
“Huh..well as cheesy at this is going to sound…maybe we were just meant to be.”  
Rae smiled up at him. “I’m starting to think so.”  
-  
Rae: Hi  
Finn: Hey girl :)  
Rae: you got it?  
Finn: obvs that I did or I wouldn’t have responded.  
Rae walked out of his bedroom into the kitchen where he was standing making her some tea.  
“Don’t be a dickhead.” She said poking him.  
He chuckled and looked down at his phone.  
Rae’s phone beeped.  
Finn: You’re the dickhead.  
“Ha ha very funny Finnley.”  
“Here.” He said handing her a cup of tea.  
“Thank you..now I’m going to take a bath.” She said kissing him on the cheek.  
“Alright..I’ll go get the movie and pizza.” He said.  
After Finn left Rae went to the bathroom and started the bath, she sunk in the water relaxing and then heard her phone beep. She reached over ad grabbed from off the toilet lid.  
Finn: Love you.  
She smiled as she texted him back.  
She started messing around with her new phone and suddenly the camera was on. She took a picture of the wall in front of her and laughed.  
She then was messing with it and turned her phone around taking a picture of herself, when she turned to view the picture her face was nowhere in it, she had just taken a picture of the top of her breast her cleavage on display bubbles just barely covering her. It looked rather sexy she thought.  
She opened her messages and after a few moments of cursing she figured out how to attach a picture. She sent the picture with nothing in the text.  
A moment later her phone beeped.  
Finn: Are you trying to kill me?  
Rae giggled she didn’t respond but instead turned her camera back on and she raised her legs over the tub and crossed them at the ankle, and snapped the picture, she reviewed it and decided to take another one. When she viewed this one she approved, it showed off nearly the entire length of her legs the bubbles covering just at mid-thigh up.  
She went back into her messages and attached the image sending it to Finn.  
A moment later her phone beeped.  
Finn: Right, when I get home you better still be in that bath.  
Rae giggled to herself and didn’t respond instead just relaxed in her bath wondering what Finn was gonna do when he got back.  
A few moments later there was a knock at the bathroom door and then it swiftly opened.  
“Took you long enough.” she grinned cheekily as Finn started to undress.  
“Yeah well, I got a boner in the pizza place it took me a minute to alright.” He said wiggling out of his pants.  
“Now, let’s work up an appetite.” He said he lowered himself in the bath.  
-  
“Hey forgot to tell you my dad invited us again up this weekend..you up for it?”  
“Um..I’m not sure.”  
“Why you got another boyfriend you need to see.” He teased.  
“Maybe.” She replied teasingly.  
“Ha ha”  
“Come on please…it won’t be that scary plus you know my dad and I could meet ya mum officially..we’ve been together 7 months..I think it’s time.”  
“I dunno..”  
“Rae…what’s really going on every time my dad invites us up you never wanna go why?”  
She shrugged. “I just don’t.”  
“Why not..don’t ya wanna see your mum and step dad, or even ya little sister..I’m sure they would love to see you.”  
“I talk to them all the time.” She responded.  
“Ya but see—“  
“I just don’t want to go Finn, leave it.” She said curtly.  
He furrowed his brows in confusion and hurt.  
“I’ll just see you later.” She said and walked out of the record shop knowing he couldn’t follow her.  
When she got home her tears were still flowing she picked up her phone.  
“Hello.”  
“M-mum.” She sobbed.  
“Oh my darling what’s the matter?”  
“Is he still there?” she stuttered out.  
“I’m not sure love.”  
“What’s bringing this up?”  
“Finn, k-keeps wanting me to go with him to meet his dad and step mum and to meet you and I really wanna go and meet them and see you but I’m afraid I might see him.”  
“Rae…you listen to me…your stronger than you were 4 years ago and you put a stop to it fast before you let it get the better of you, you’re stronger than you know.”  
“I’m just afraid of what’ll happen if I see him and what he told me..”  
“Rae..you’re strong you found someone who loves you and adores you…don’t push him away for someone who doesn’t matter…his words don’t matter.”  
“Its just easier said then done.”  
“I think you should talk to Finn about you concerns love, don’t shut him out.”  
“I know I’ve just tried to avoid it as long as I could.”  
“Be brave.”  
“Thanks mum…give Jess and Karim my love.”  
“I will…give my best to that man of yours…he’s good for you Rae.”  
“I will, love you mum.”  
“Love you too.”  
-  
The next morning Rae woke to a knock at her door, she knew who it was and was on the verge of tears as she got out of bed.  
“Hi.”  
“Hi.”  
She opened the door for him to come in, she turned around and he was still standing there, he hadn’t made himself at home like he usually did, instead he stood there like a stranger in a foreign house.  
“Look..I’m sorry..meetin’ the parents I guess is a big step for some..I just didn’t know it was for us..and you don’t have to come.. I get it.”  
A tear rolled down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. “Don’t apologize Finn, it’s not got anything to do with ya dad and my mum.”  
“Because I do wanna go…I would love it.” She sobbed.  
He took a step forward holding her hands in his. “Then what is it?”  
“I’m scared.”  
“Of what?”  
She dropped her head and sobbed harder, Finn pulled her into a soothing hug until her tears subsided.  
He walked her over to sit on the sofa, she concentrated on the sound of his heart and his deep even breaths a moment before she spoke.  
“Before I moved here…I was in a relationship for about three months, it was with a guy I used to kinda be with in college we met in group therapy…he..he was really messed up…in college we would hang out sometimes and I kind of liked him..I mean he said we were fuck up’s and always would be that he liked being around me, that we needed to stick together and I believed him at the time cos’ I was bullied so much..well some things happened between us and it wasn’t good..he was my first…but he made me keep my clothes on….’we’re not exactly oil paintings’ th-that’s what he told me..I got really bad around him..I didn’t want to go to therapy, I was partying, missing college..I wasn’t taking my medication..and then one day he left..”  
“His family sent him to a hospital somewhere…and that was the last I heard of him..I got better started accepting and loving myself after he left..then a few years later he moved back.”  
“He was better he said..and he really seemed better..so we started out as friends…I could see the difference in him..and well things just kind of happened…it was fine and then he started to change and I saw the old Liam coming back and I didn’t want to be a part of that because I had come so far…so I told him it was over…but he went off..saying that no matter what we would always be together because once a fuck up always a fuck up..he reminded me of all the stupid shit I did saying it was just a matter of time before I tried to..to..” she stopped not able to say the words.  
Finn held her close knowing what she was about to say, “…again…and I admit that I did let it get to me.. I let the fucker get inside me head..”  
“I had a moment of weakness I was in the bathroom and I was holding a knife…he walked in on me and told me to do it…that I wanted to..”  
“But I couldn’t do it, I was better..I got dressed and left..”  
“After that he would follow me, after work before work, telling me we belonged together..”  
“Sometimes he would be really nice and apologize say that he didn’t mean it..”  
“But when I wasn’t having any of it he would scream and yell at me..telling me no one would ever be with a fat mental fuck up.”  
“I became afraid…and what could I really do…he always cornered me…no one ever saw…he never hit me..”  
“So I left..”  
“I haven’t been home in nearly 4 years…afraid he might still be there…I know his words don’t mean nothin..but I can’t deny that thinking about it doesn’t sometimes get to me..there is just so much shit there…”  
“And here I am better…with you I’m better.”  
“The song.” Finn said.  
“Huh?”  
“On our first date that song the one that made you cry..”  
“Oh..yeah..it really hit home for me.”  
“I’m so sorry Rae…no one should ever be afraid to go home..especially because of some prick.”  
“I hate that you feel like you can’t even visit your family because you’re afraid.”  
“Rae..you know you are none of those things he said to you..and I want you to know that you are brave and strong and the most amazing person I’ve ever met, I love you.”  
“And you can go back when you’re ready…I’m just so happy you didn’t let that twat get to ya and that you here and with me.”  
“Me too..I love you.” she sighed.  
“I’m sorry I have this fear still.”  
“I understand Rae..and for the record if we did go and we ran into him..I’ll handle it yeah.” He said confidently.  
“I know…I really would like you to meet my mum and Karim and Jess…and you know I’d love to see your dad again and to meet Meredith.”  
“Don’t worry about that girl we got a long time for that…and who knows I might be able to persuade them all to come to us.”  
“That’s a long trip.” She said.  
“Yeah..well it would have to be a special occasion then.” He smiled.  
“Well, if you can think of one maybe they’ll come.”  
“I’ll get on it.” He said pulling her in for a kiss.  
–  
Rae woke moaning, she was in the midst of a very heated sex dream about Finn but was woken up by her cheek being kissed.  
“Happy Anniversary, girl.” Finn spoke softly.  
“Mmmm.” She hummed.  
“Holy lord Jesus Christ…fuck!” Rae said breathless nearly head butting Finn as she arched up.  
Finn chuckled, “feel good?”  
“It’s alright..yeah” she said as he continued to tap her clit.  
“Just alright..well let’s see if I can’t do better.” He smirked.  
He moved ready to tuck under the blankets.  
“Wait..” Rae said pulling him by his shoulder before he descended south.  
She kissed him firmly, “Happy Anniversary.” She sighed.  
“Okay..continue.” she said.  
He kissed her quickly before he made his way between her thighs.  
–  
“Rae can ya get the door please!?” Finn called from the bathroom.  
“Who is it..it better not be Chop he knows we wanted to be alone today.” She called walking from the bedroom.  
She fastened her dressing gown tighter around her waist before opening the door ready to scold whoever was ruing her day of sexual bliss.  
She began as she opened the door, “Chop we to—-Mum…Karim..Jess.” she said in shock.  
“Wh-what are you doing here?”  
“Don’t be rude Rae let us in.” Linda said.  
Rae moved out of the way tears threatening to spill.  
“Oh my god Jess you’re so big.” Rae gasped.  
She pulled her sister into a hug then hugged Karim and her Mum.  
She caught site of Finn leaning against the entry way to the lounge with a toothy grin.  
“Di-did you plan this?”  
“Might of.” He shrugged.  
“Er..hi Mrs. Bouchtat and Mr. Bouchtat…it’s nice to finally meet you.” Finn said as he walked over.  
“Finn..I told you on the phone that you can call us Linda and Karim.” Linda said.  
“Yes..of course.” He smiled.  
“And you must be Jess, I’ve heard a lot about you.”  
“I wish I could say the same.”  
“Jess!” Linda scolded.  
“She’s just teasing Finn.” Linda said.  
Fin just chuckled, Jess pulled Rae aside talking to her about everything she’s been up to but Rae couldn’t help but watch the interaction between Finn her mum and Karim, then there was suddenly a knock at the door.  
Finn walked passed her with shooting her a wink.  
“Rae..”  
“Yeah..” she said turning around.  
“Well, you remember me dad..and this is me step mum Meredith.”  
“Oh yes..of course..hi Gary how have you been?” Rae asked.  
“I’ve been well Rae…” he said glancing to his wife.  
“Hi..its so nice to meet you.” She said to Meredith.  
“Nice to finally meet you as well Rae..we hear nothing but praise about you from Finn.”  
Rae blushed she looked at Finn who just smiled and shrugged.  
She then realized she was just in her robe, stark naked underneath. “Um..please excuse me while I go change..I didn’t know we were having company and if anyone else shows up I’d like to be decent.” Rae said and made her way to the bedroom.  
“Finn could you..” she said pointing between her the two families.  
“Yeah course.” He said.  
Rae quickly got dressed as Finn introduced their families to each other, she came out of the bedroom smiling at the scene before her, Karim and Gary talking, Meredith and her mum talking and Finn was showing Jess some cds.  
“Hey ready?” he asked.  
“For what?”  
“We’re all going out to lunch.” Finn said.  
“Oh yeah..let me grab my coat.” She said walking back into the bedroom.  
Finn came up behind her wrapping his arms around her, “So do you like your surprise?” he asked kissing her cheek.  
“I love it.” She said turning around facing him resting her arms on his shoulders.  
“I’m just surprised they made the trip..especially for our one year anniversary.”  
“Yeah well, I wanted to make it special for you and even though we’ve only been together a year it feels like longer and I wanted to make it one you remember.”  
“Thank you Finn, I love you so much.”  
“I love you more.” He said then kissed her.  
“And don’t worry tonight is all about us..we can catch up with them some more tomorrow.”  
“They are staying the weekend?”  
“Yep.”  
“I really love you did tell you that?”  
“You might have mentioned it.”  
He smirked before kissing her once more.  
-  
Lunch was wonderfully needed, she loved getting caught up on what was going on in her family’s life and she also confirmed with Gary if all the storied Finn had told her were true, he confirmed it and also added what Finn had conveniently left out of each story, the afternoon was filled with love and laughs.  
But Rae couldn’t wait to spend the rest of their first anniversary together. Just as she finished getting ready there was a knock at her door, she gave herself a once over in the mirror, she was wearing a navy blue dress, with a deep v neckline, the sleeves were ¾ and the hem stopped just above her knees.  
She spritz on her perfume and made her way to answer the door.  
“Hey girl.” Finn said.  
“Hiya.” She smiled.  
“You look wonderful.” He said.  
“You don’t look half bad yourself.” She said.  
They both chuckled at them echoing back the same words they shared on their first date.  
“Ready.”  
“Yeah.” She happily nodded.  
They walked slowly to their destination Rae having no idea where they were going but was just happy to be going with Finn.  
Finn opened a door for Rae and she recognized that they were in the same restaurant they went to on the first date.  
They were seated and their orders taken quickly, Rae glanced around noticing there was no one else in the restaurant.  
“What?” Finn asked.  
“Nothing..it’s just can’t believe we’re the only ones in here.” She said.  
“Well, that’s okay by me makes it that more special.” He said.  
“It does.” She agreed.  
They leaned into a kiss, the kiss deepening quickly as they turned to embrace each other. They were broken a part minutes later by their food being served.  
The shared a small smile before tucking in, they chatted about what they would do the next day, possibly showing them around town, Finns record and coffee shop.  
When they finished dinner Rae leaned into Finn kissing him on the cheek, he slung his arm over her shoulder as they continued to walk talking about anything and everything.  
As their walking slowed Rae asked, “Finn..did you set it up so we would be alone in the restaurant?”  
“Might’ve done.” Finn shrugged.  
Rae smiled and kissed him on the cheek “How did I get so lucky.” She sighed.  
“I could say the same girl.”  
As they entered their next destination Rae was met with several familiar faces, her family, Finns family, Archie, Dave, Chop, Izzy, Chloe and Dylan, they were all seated facing a stool and a microphone.  
“Hi guys.” Rae said as she walked further into the record shop.  
They all briefly greeted her with hello’s  
“Right you sit here girl.” Finn said guiding Rae to a chair sitting directly in front of the mic.  
Rae sat and the lights dimmed and a sea of fairly lights glowed around her. Finn sat at the on the stool and adjusted the mic.  
“Hi everyone..I just wanted to say thank you for joining Rae and I today in celebrating our one year together..it’s been truly the most amazing year of my life, I love you, girl.”  
Dave walked up handing Finn an acoustic guitar. Finn strummed the first few chords, Rae gasped covering her mouth as happy tears rolled down her face.  
“Today is gonna be the day that they’re gonna throw it back to you…”  
By the time Finn was done she couldn’t stop smiling her chest felt heavy, full with the all the love that she possessed for the man in front of her.  
Finn set the acoustic guitar down and stepped down the one stair and kneeled in front of Rae.  
“Rae, I love you so much and I can’t imagine spending the rest if my life without you..” he paused pulling a something out of his pocket.  
Rae gasped as he presented her with a small box, she is sure she stopped breathing when he opened the lid revealing the ring inside.  
“Rae, will you marry me?”  
Her mind went blank a moment she looked up at Finn then back at the ring, her mind running through the events of the day putting all the pieces together of why everyone was here.  
“Rae..Rae..what’dya say?” she looked up at him, seeing the worry in his eye.  
“I never knew ya could sing!”  
Finn couldn’t help but chuckle nervously. “Girl, I’m willing to sing to ya for the rest of our lives if ya would just give me an answer.”  
“Oh…well of course I’ll marry you” she grinned.  
“Yeah?”  
“YES!” she shrieked and threw her arms around his neck kissing him roughly.  
Finn pulled away laughing. “Let me put the ring on ya girl.”  
Rae held out her shaky hand to him and watched as he slid he ring in her finger.  
“It’s beautiful Finn.”  
“It was me Nans.” He said.  
She clasped her hand over the ring knowing how much this meant. “I love you.”  
“I love you too.” They kissed shortly as they were broken apart by the cheers of their family and friends.  
After Rae showed everyone the ring and congratulations were given they then excused themselves saying they would see everyone the next day to celebrate.  
As they walked back to Rae’s she couldn’t help but admire her ring.  
“You like it?”  
“I love it and I love you so much.”  
“Good first anniversary then?”  
“Very good Finnley..now I can give you your present..but it might not live up to yours.”  
“I will love whatever it is because it’s from you.” He said and kissed her before they entered her flat.  
Rae and Finn walked into her flat, Rae put her keys down on the table pulling Finn to the bedroom.  
She went to her bedside drawer and pulled out a box with a bow on it. “Here..Happy Anniversary.” She said.  
He kissed her and sat down on the bed and she nodded for him to open it.  
She watched him carefully for his reaction, when he opened it he seemed to generally like it.  
“Oh cool a new phone thanks, girl.” He said pulling her into his lap.  
“You like it?” she asked.  
“I love it.” He said kissing her.  
“Right..welll.” she drawled.  
“You play with that while I go change into something that’s a bit easier for you to get me out of.” She smiled wiggling her eyebrows.  
“Why bother even putting anything on at all.” He smirked.  
“Just play with ya new phone..oh and I added everything in their for you contacts and stuff turn it on…I’ll be a few minutes.” She said.  
Rae went to the bathroom and waited a moment until she thought the phone would be fully on, it was new touch screen smart phone and she had made it a bit naughty, she was the only one who filled that phone.  
“Rae.” She heard him call.  
“Just a minute.” She said as she changed out of her dress, she figured he saw the home screen wallpaper, it was picture of her in the bathtub, she’ll have to remember to thank Chloe for the small photo shoot.  
“RAE!” Finn said urgently.  
She tried to hold in her giggle as she slipped on her new sheer nighty, she had sent a text to the phone and tested it and to make sure it would show he had a new message when he turned it on. The text read:  
Finnley, I hope you like your gift, I thought you could use a phone that wasn’t for work but for play. Happy Anniversary.  
Ps. Check the photo gallery.  
The gallery was filled with naughty pictures of herself in various sexy outfits.  
Soon there was a rough knock on the door, “Rae..if you don’t come out I will come in.” Finn said calmly.  
She took one last look in the mirror then opened the door.  
“You sexy little minx Mrs. Nelson.” He said holding the phone up one of her pictures showing.  
“Do you like it?”  
“I love it.” He said pulling her to him.  
He walked her backwards to the bed where they both collapsed on it.  
-  
When they were spent Rae snuggled into Finn drawing lazily on his chest.  
“So do you really like your gift?”  
“I do I really do and I can’t wait to receive some more texts from you..but I am curious.” He said.  
“What?” she asked.  
“Why a phone?”  
“Because it all started with a call.” She smiled up at him.  
“I love you Rae.” he said as he pulled her closer.  
“I love you Finn.”


End file.
